


Communication Is Key

by Just A Couple Of Death Priests (WalkOnThroughARedParade)



Series: Life Lessons [3]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Man this got LONG, Talon is Bad at Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-14 18:08:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13595523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WalkOnThroughARedParade/pseuds/Just%20A%20Couple%20Of%20Death%20Priests
Summary: Four Times Tris Kissed Someone That Wasn't Talon, And One Time He Didn't“We can return his body to his family in the morning. His soul needs time to move on before he is buried; animals should leave him alone, with the talismans I’ve placed.” There was something sad in his tone, but he sounded certain, fidgeting to get a little more comfortable leaning against Talon before he tipped his head back to blink up at him.For a moment, Talon remembered their first fight together, and the Air Elemental, and how small Tris had looked curled up on the ground; and he wrapped an arm around the blonde’s waist, and coaxed him to his feet.“Well then we can get some sleep. We’ve all had a long day.”Alternatively;In Which Talon Is Jealous





	Communication Is Key

1.

Mhèirì’s giggles were ceaseless.

She and Tris had set themselves up at the edge of the clearing they were making camp in, sat amongst a crop of brightly coloured wildflowers, and almost since the moment they'd sat down the girl had been laughing.

In a way, it was lovely to witness. Things weren't perhaps as dire as they could have been, but it was rare that they'd laugh so much.

On the other hand, Talon had spend the last half an hour pretending to be asleep, something in his stomach souring the longer he listened to the quiet murmur of Tris’ voice, and the deer centaur’s responding giggles. They’d clicked about as quickly as Tris and Talon himself, found a connection through their respective faith and the wide-eyed innocence they both shared; and today, with them giggling a handful of feet away, Talon found their connection grating.

He listened to another peal of laughter from the airy, whimsical young woman, before she spoke up.

“No, not like  _ that _ . Here, wrap the stem around your thumb to make a better loop, and then slip the plait through it so they lock together better. Otherwise the whole thing will fall to pieces.”

Talon heard Tris made a soft, frustrated noise in the back of his throat, could imagine the crease forming between his eyes as he focussed harder on whatever it was they were doing, saw him worry at his bottom lip with his teeth in the back of his mind; and the half elf swallowed hard, focussing a little harder on keeping his eyes glued shut.

“I do not think I am very good at this,” the blonde stated, quiet and with no small amount of frustration; and Mhèirì giggled again. 

“It’s not that complicated. Did you never make flower crowns with your mother?”

There was silence for a prolonged, lingering moment, and Talon cracked one eye open to see what had happened.

His attention locked on Tris, sat with a lap full of daisies and violets and with a half-finished flower crown clutched in both hands while another, completed one sat on top of his head; and he watched the blonde fiddle with a loose sprig of Baby’s Breath, eyes dark and thoughtful in his lovely face.

“I never knew my mother,” he murmured; and Talon sat up a little while Mhèirì gasped, giving up the pretense of sleep as the young woman pressed a hand to her lips delicately.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! Were you very young when she died?”

Talon winced - and saw Quick Branch do the same on the other side of the clearing, the Tabaxi midway through pitching a tent with Kibble doing her best to assist her - and half made to join the conversation, to change the subject before Mhèirì said something well meaning but  _ awful _ , only to still when Tris looked up at the young woman again, the smile on his face sad and almost apologetic.

“I don’t know if she’s dead. She abandoned me when I was a baby.”

Mhèirì’s gentle, sympathetic shock froze over as she stared at Tris, her mouth opening and then closing with the soft  _ click _ of her teeth snapping together; and Talon stared at the blonde boy, at the soft apology on his face as he revealed the tidbit about his past. 

There was plenty of tragedy in Talon’s own past, and it wasn’t like he’d been expecting the strange, lovely boy with no understanding of social graces to have a normal or entirely happy past behind him.

But this…?

Tris’ expression softened, and he reached to take Mhèirì’s hands in his, squeezing her fingers gently.

“Don’t be sad. I’m not. It’s very difficult to miss something you never really had in the first place, and without her leaving me I might never have met you, or any of the others. Don’t be sad because of me.” He moved one hand to her cheek, tucking a pretty, pale brown ringlet back behind her ear; and Mhèirì sniffled softly, bottom lip wavering while she squeezed Tris’ fingers back.

She lifted the completed flower crown from her own head, and pressed it into his hands, crushing the heads of a couple of daisies with how firmly she handled it.

“I-I’ll teach you how to make them. I’ll teach you e-everything my mother taught me,” she promised quietly,  _ fiercely _ ; and Tristan shot her an endeared, grateful look before fidgeting on his knees until he could press a soft, lingering kiss to the apple of her cheek.

The same sour  _ thing _ that had previously flooded his stomach returned, hard and cold, and Talon pressed his lips together firmly.

He turned his face away from the pair of them, tearing up a handful of grass while he swallowed back the bitterness flooding his mouth; and he practically jumped out of his fucking skin when there was a new weight on the top of his head, turned his head to find Tris looking back at him, suddenly so very close, dropping his hands from where he’d placed his spare flower crown atop Talon’s head.

The smile he offered the older boy was broad and sweet, and he reached with a hand that disappeared out of Talon’s eyeline to fiddle with a loose flower.

“Will you teach me everything your mother ever taught you as well, Talon?” The teasing was gentle, not meant for Mhèirì’s ears; and Talon couldn’t help the brief, amused smile that crept across his face.

“Depends how much you want to learn about pickpocketing.”

Tris’ soft, delighted laughter banished the last of the sourness.

~

2.

Talon lingered, feeling awkward and unwelcome, as he watched Tristan tend to the body carefully laid out on the grass.

He’d produced a lot of things Talon recognised from back when they'd banished the blink dog from his pack, incense and candles and little ribbon and wax talismans, and had gone about dressing the corpse with them, wrapping strips of dark ribbon around his wrists and setting a couple of his strange coins over his eyelids.

Talon looked over the body, at the calmness of his expression, hands folded atop his chest.

Joshua, had been his name. He’d volunteered to show them through the forest, to help them find the creatures that had been plaguing his village; and when they’d found them, found the den of snarling, massive Dire Wolves turned rabid through starvation and eating poisonous plants, he had been the first to go down, fighting  _ valiantly _ , Talon was sure someone else would have claimed, but still as dead as anyone else in the end.

He’d been quite obviously enamoured with Mhèirì the moment he’d clapped eyes on her, and it had been very sweet at the time.

Tris crushed a little of the ash from one of his sticks of incense in a small wooden bowl, and mixed it with a drop of sweet smelling oil, before drawing a symbol to match the one carved into the large piece of onyx dangling from his belt on the smooth canvas of Joshua’s forehead.

“This fucking sucks,” Talon muttered; and Tris hummed as he finished the symbol, before glancing back at him, eyes soft and solemn.

Talon wasn’t certain he’d ever seen him so serious.

“Death isn’t evil. It doesn’t discriminate between good and evil, rich and poor; it takes everyone.” There was something in his voice, something firm but defensive, and Talon stepped closer so he could take a knee beside him, reaching with one hand to stroke a curl out of his eyes gently.

“I know that. And I wasn’t saying it  _ is _ evil. Just that it sucks having someone innocent die on our watch, yeah?” Tris blinked back at him, before going a little pink, and turning his face away; and Talon threaded his fingers through his hair to ruffle it softly, before letting out a near-silent sigh, fingers tugging gently at a corkscrew curl behind Tris’ ear.

He didn’t ask questions about the God Tris followed. None of them did, really, they were happy enough to respect his wish for privacy.

But Talon had listened to enough strange, slightly disturbing conversations that mentioned the deity Tris followed in passing, and had listened to enough stories about this fucking  _ Nirn _ character, that he knew whoever Tris’ God was, They weren’t  _ nice _ .

Nice Gods didn’t have such extensive, somber funeral rites for the dead. Nice Gods didn’t send their clerics off to recite incantations over altars containing ancient skeletons. They didn’t keep their clerics confined to some secret temple in the mountains, until they barely knew how to talk to other people.

Talon made no real judgements about Tris’ God, but he knew They weren’t nice.

He sighed again, and moved to run his knuckles down the back of Tris’ neck gently, feeling a little gratified when the blonde’s shoulders slumped as he relaxed; and Tris glanced up at him, offering him a soft, grateful smile, before turning back to Joshua’s body, and ducking in to kiss his cold forehead softly.

Something twisted in Talon’s stomach uncomfortably, but he didn’t stop petting him.

“May the divine gate be open to you, and the Gravewarden guard your soul from those that would do it harm,” he murmured, doing something complicated and elegant with his hands over Joshua’s chest; and after a moment Tris let out a drawn out, tired sigh, and shifted so he could lean against Talon, pillowing his head against his shoulder.

Talon held his breath, and tried, by sheer force of will, to  _ make _ his heart stop beating so  _ fucking _ fast.

“We can return his body to his family in the morning. His soul needs time to move on before he is buried; animals should leave him alone, with the talismans I’ve placed.” There was something sad in his tone, but he sounded certain, fidgeting to get a little more comfortable leaning against Talon before he tipped his head back to blink up at him.

For a moment, Talon remembered their first fight together, and the Air Elemental, and how  _ small _ Tris had looked curled up on the ground; and he wrapped an arm around the blonde’s waist, and coaxed him to his feet.

“Well then we can get some sleep. We’ve all had a long day.”

Tris didn’t stop looking at him, eyes bright and too honest, too emotional; but after a moment, he nodded shakily, and nuzzled at Talon’s shoulder before taking a step back toward the others and their camp.

“Alright. Sleep it is.”

~

3.

“Talon! For fuck’s sake would you  _ help me?! _ ” 

Quick Branch let out an actual, honest to gods  _ yowl _ , trying desperately to escape the trio currently clambering on top of her; and rather than moving to help her, Talon just crossed his arms over his chest, grinning as he watched the scene unfold before him.

Kibble had both hands buried in Quick Branch’s fur where the little gnome had managed to climb up on her shoulders, quick fingers messing with the Tabaxi’s fur until it was all standing on end; at which point Mhèirì tucked more flowers into her fur, further dismantling the idea she was the fearsome, intimidating monk they all knew.

Tris spoke to her solemnly as he finished tying another deft, neat little bow by one of her ears.

“We have to practice in case we have to go to any more parties. We all need to put in effort to blend in.” 

With the seriousness to his expression and some of the shit he’d come out with in the past, it was impossible to tell whether Tris was serious or not at first; but after a moment the blonde broke out in a grin, brandishing another ribbon at Quick Branch mock-threateningly while she hissed at him.

Talon snorted softly, watching Tris tie another bow around Quick Branch’s neck while the Tabaxi bared her teeth at him.

Tris grinned back at her, and pressed a kiss to her nose, making her hiss at him again even as her ears twitched atop her head in recognisable embarrassment, and Kibble burst into giggles, dropping kissing of her own over the top of the monk’s head; and Talon’s amusement withered and died, the smile sliding off his face.

He shifted his weight restlessly while the others continued to mess around, the chorus of giggles interspersed by Quick Branch cursing and hissing at them somehow failing to break the bad mood he’d been put in.

He only really succeeded at hiding the sour look on his face when Kibble looked at him; and her grin turned wicked while Talon’s own expression turned wary, and she addressed the others in a mock-whisper.

“We should do Talon’s hair next.”

Talon took the only reasonable option available to him; and he started to run, the giggles of his friends following him.

~

4.

Kibble shot the shop counter - and the girl sat behind it - another furtive look, before looking back at the others again.

“But we don't  _ have _ five hundred gold to spare. How are we supposed to get potions when they cost so much money?” 

Talon gave the shop as a whole a thoughtful once-over, examining entrances and exits before speaking up idly.

“I mean I could always come b-”

“I'll talk to her.” Tris was quieter, but the second he started speaking Talon stopped, like out of instinct; and they all frowned at the blonde boy, and his determined expression. 

Tris squared his shoulders and shut his eyes, one hand going to his holy symbol; before he headed back over to the counter, a smile spread across his face. Talon could see the girl get caught in that smile before Tris had even reached her, and felt the ugly, sour  _ thing _ that had made an appearance every time Tris was especially nice to someone else stir in the hollow of his chest, stronger and a little nauseating as he watched the blonde boy speak softly to the plain, mousy haired girl.

That wasn't  _ fair _ , and part of Talon knew it wasn't, that it wasn't her fault that they needed the health potions she was asking an extortionate price for, or that she obviously found Tris attractive, or that the sweet, strange boy could be charming without notice, or that Talon was so fucking  _ screwed up _ when it came to Tris-

But he watched Tristan take the girl’s hand in his gently, turning it palm up the way they'd seen men in this village do with their wives, before Tris pressed a soft kiss to the palm of her hand.

And the thing in Talon’s chest snarled, low and furious, while his expression darkened and his hands curled into fists at his sides.

The girl giggled softly, turning a delicate shade of pink, before gently tugging her hand free and turning to disappear into the back room of the shop; and Tris turned back to the rest of the party, looking near giddy with pride.

His wide, happy smile faltered when he noticed Talon’s stormy expression, though.

Talon turned his back on him, and headed for the exit, snatching a potion at random off a shelf without even bothering to try and be subtle about it; and when Tris called after him, a confused ‘ _ Talon?’ _ that had Quick Branch making a low, displeased noise in her throat, he fought with the part of him demanding he stop.

His pride and the thing in his chest won; and he stormed out of the shop without looking back.

*

1.

Tris hesitated right on the edge of Talon’s vision, fidgeting restlessly while the half elf tried to concentrate on rewrapping the grip of his dagger; and after what felt like an excruciatingly long moment, finally moved closer, dropping to his knees beside Talon.

“Have I done something wrong?”

It occured to Talon that he should have guessed that that would be what he asked, that Tris would immediately assume he’d fucked up somehow, that his inexperience with people had at last had unforeseen consequences; and the nasty  _ thing _ still sitting in his chest, weighing on his lungs, hissed that he was right.

This  _ was _ Tris’ fault, wasn’t it? Talon wasn’t the one running around being so  _ free _ with his goddamned  _ favours _ .

When Talon didn’t reply, Tris swallowed thickly and reached out to him, fingertips barely brushing his knee.

“I didn’t meant to,” he murmured, quiet and desperate, “whatever it was, whatever I did; I didn’t mean to. Please, just...please stop avoiding me. I don’t understand what it is that I did wrong.”

“I haven’t been avoiding you,” Talon muttered, dismissive and still refusing to look up at him; and out of the corner of his eye he saw Tris’ expression falter, watched a miserable kind of confusion spread across his face before he dropped his eyes, tearing up fistfulls of grass restlessly.

Talon  _ had _ been avoiding him. He’d volunteered to take watches that kept him as far from Tris’ own shifts as possible, had scouted ahead more to keep the distance between them, ate sandwiched between Quick Branch and Kibble and kept his eyes locked on his food so he didn’t have to watch Tris’ eyes go soft and sad when he sat with Mhèirì instead. He’d hoped the distance would calm the thing in his chest, would make things easier, give him time to sort himself out.

It hadn’t, though. If anything, it had only gotten worse.

“But I... _ Talon _ …” Tris reached for him again, reaching for his hands this time, fingers cold when they made contact with Talon’s skin; and the half elf recoiled like the touch had burned, finally looking up at him and snapping at him in response, quiet but harsh.

“For once in you  _ goddamned life _ can you just fuck off and leave me alone? It might surprise you, but I don’t always have time to pander to your  _ constant _ need for affection and attention. Go bother someone else, for fucking  _ once _ .”

He hadn’t seen how exhausted Tris looked.

Over the last three, four days that he’d spend avoiding him, keeping his distance after what had happened in the potion shop, he’d not really  _ looked _ at Tris; and so he’d missed how his mouth had started to turn down at the corners, how his eyes were dark and sad and shadowed.

He hadn’t...he’d not  _ realised _ …

Tris made a soft hiccuping noise that had Talon’s stomach dropping, even as he tried to think of some way to take back every  _ awful _ thing he’d just said, and the blonde boy pressed the back of a hand to his mouth, blinking hard several times before he pushed shakily to his feet.

“I’m- I’m sorry. I d-didn’t realise I was b-bothering you so much. I’ll- I-I’m sorry, Talon.” His voice was thick, and wavering, and Talon half reached for him as Tris turned and hurried away, disappearing into the trees rather than heading for one of the others, the way he’d half expected him to. Talon groaned and shoved his hands back through his hair, dagger lying half finished in his lap; and when a shadow fell over him, he shut his eyes tightly.

“Your jealousy is going to get us all killed if you don’t sort your shit out, Talon.”

Quick Branch’s tone left no real room for argument, and when he glanced up at her she was glaring back at him, arms folded over her chest; and he opened his mouth to reply before closing it again, dropping his eyes and frowning to himself.

After another moment, he tried again.

“He deserves better,” Talon muttered. Quick Branch snorted in amusement, and kicked at him lightly.

“Believe me, we’re all  _ well _ aware of that fact. And no one’s telling you to unload all the grizzly details of your feelings onto him. But you’ve got to stop being an  _ asshole _ .” He refused, peering up at her again, to tell her that she was right in any way, was near certain that Kibble would praise her for a while when she returned to the gnome; but he pushed to his feet, and started to make his way in the direction Tris had gone, figuring he was unlikely to have put much effort into hiding his tracks, with how clearly distraught he’d been.

From the other side of the clearing, Mhèirì shot him a hard, displeased look, her sweet face drawn in a way he’d never seen before.

Talon came to the conclusion that if he didn’t fix this, he might not live through the night; and he hurried into the tree line with a last, furtive glance at Mhèirì and her mace, sat innocently at her side.

~

Talon hesitated beside a tree, once again feeling very out of place and very unwanted as he stared at Tristan’s back.

The blonde’s shoulders were shaking, a little, and from where he was stood Talon could just about see his holy symbol clasped in both hands tightly; and he listened as what had, upon his approach, been a wordless, sad murmur became actual words.

“...just don’t understand what I  _ did _ . Everything was g-going so well, and now I’ve  _ done something _ , but I don’t know what it is, or how I am supposed to fix it.” 

There was a moment of silence, and Talon hesitated, wondering if now was the time to speak up; before Tris made a wordless noise of frustration and started to speak again, tone turning from just sad to annoyed, and almost helpless.

“I know, I  _ know _ it doesn’t matter to Them, I know I could do what They ask by myself, but I don’t  _ want to _ . I’m so tired of being  _ alone _ , Nirn. And I th-thought...I thought I wouldn’t have to be, any more, but if I’ve managed to do this, and so  _ soon _ …” He trailed off, shoulders slumping, before continuing quietly, “You know why. You know it’s different. Just because you refuse to help me with things you consider trivial doesn’t mean I never asked the questions in the first place.”

Talon took a hesitant, half step forward, and winced when he felt a branch give under his boot, heard the  _ crack _ of it breaking; and watched Tris turn to face him, his expression startled while his hand half went for his crossbow.

It didn’t take him long to realise it was Talon staring back at him, and when he did his expression crumbled, and he dropped his eyes while Talon closed the last of the distance between them, not caring about stealth any more as he dropped to his knees in front of Tris and reached to take his face in his hands carefully.

The last dregs of bitterness and anger that had been lingering in his chest flickered and died when he felt wetness on Tris’ cheeks, slightly sticky beneath his fingers; and he sighed before tugging the blonde boy in against his chest, hugging him tightly and burying his face in his hair.

“I’ll n-never do it again,” Tris promised, sobbed against his shirt, hugging him back tightly, “whatever is was, whatever I d-did to make you not want to be my friend any more, I promise I’ll never do it again. Please, Talon, I’m sorry.”

It occurred to Talon, for a moment, that he was a fucking  _ idiot _ .

“It wasn’t you. It wasn’t your fault Tris, I was just...it wasn’t you. I’m sorry. I was an asshole, and you deserve better.” Talon carded his fingers through Tris’ hair gently, and risked a brief, soft kiss to the top of his head; and Tris made a noise like he didn’t believe him, pulling back just enough to look Talon in the face.

Talon didn’t understand how someone’s eyes could change the way Tris’ did, switch from the colour of the sky to the starry, deep blue they were now, shiny with unshed tears; and he clenched his jaw, fighting with himself, before cupping Tris’ cheeks in both hands so he could brush away the tears lingering on his eyelashes with his thumbs.

“Just- just stop kissing people who aren’t our friends, okay? It’s not-  _ fuck _ , I’ve got no right to ask, you can kiss whoever the hell you want, but- but that...yeah.”

He’d never been great with words, even when things were easy, and he wasn’t so emotionally invested.

Tris’ expression went soft, though, like he’d heard something Talon didn’t realise he’d said; and the blonde pushed up onto his knees, looking Talon solemnly in the face.

“I promise,” he stated, quiet and firm; before he pressed a soft, lingering kiss to Talon’s cheek.

Talon could have sworn he heard something when Tris’ lips touched his skin, the soft murmur of a voice, saying something about  _ distractions _ and accompanied by the rustle of feathers shifting and pinpricks across his shoulder; but the feeling was banished when Tris wrapped both arms around his neck to hug him tighter, burying his face in Talon’s hair and breathing deeply.

“Shut up, Nirn,” he mumbled, soft against Talon’s skin.

Talon shut his eyes tightly, and pressed his face against Tris’ hair so he could breathe him in, wrapping his arms around his waist as he hugged him back.

_ If you’re going to accept that you’re irrevocably fucked _ , he told himself, firm in the quiet of his own mind _ , the least you can do is stop hurting the boy you’re fucked up over, dickface. _

He let out a sharp breath, and held onto Tris a little tighter.


End file.
